President Prabowo to Ratify TNI Bill Soon, Lawsuit Waiting at MK

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - President Prabowo Subianto is confirmed to soon ratify the Draft Law or TNI Bill, which has received approval for enactment into law by the House of Representatives in a plenary session on Thursday (20/3/2025). Meanwhile, a lawsuit against the latest TNI Law is already awaiting review at the Constitutional Court.

The certainty that President Prabowo will ratify the TNI Bill was conveyed by Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Friday (21/3/2025). "Yes, it will definitely happen later (the signing for ratification). (As for when) That depends on the President," he said.

The politician from the Gerindra Party added that the revision of the TNI Law had already been decided in a plenary session, and its content could now be reviewed. He firmly stated that concerns about the revival of the dual function of the TNI, as seen during the New Order era, were completely unfounded.

"In fact, this provides certainty regarding which positions may be filled by the military in civilian positions," he said.

He also urged the public not to overly dichotomize all the nation's forces. "This republic was founded by all groups, by all professions, everyone, and it is balanced. Therefore, our constitution grants roles to each and every citizen to participate," he added.

The discussion of the TNI Bill was also claimed not to be rushed. Public involvement was claimed to have been carried out. Moreover, the changes made were only to three articles, which were deemed not crucial.

"I was the one who initiated this law when I was (still) in the Legislative Body, that was in 2024. It didn't happen at that time because the government had not completed the DIM (problem inventory list) because it became a carry over in the current period. So there was no quick discussion, then secondly, there was no communication at all, (in fact) it (had been discussed) from the previous period," he said.

Regarding public rejection of the ratification of the TNI Bill, according to Supratman, it is possible. In a democracy, it is impossible for everyone to agree on everything. However, for disagreements regarding legislation, there are channels that can be utilized to challenge it, such as the Constitutional Court (MK).

Protests rejecting the TNI Bill took place in many regions. One of the reasons is that its deliberation is considered procedurally flawed. This is because the TNI Bill is not included in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) of the DPR 2025 and the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025-2029.

In addition, the discussion did not involve meaningful public participation. "When the civil society coalition went to Jakarta, they were not allowed to enter by the DPR to discuss the TNI Bill," said the spokesman for the Jogja Memanggil Alliance who called himself Bung Koes.

Researcher at the Center for Political Research at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Diandra Mengko also assessed that Article 7 is the most worrying change in the revised TNI Law. This is because the new regulation emphasizes the assignment of the TNI in military operations other than war (OMSP).

In the article, OMSP is no longer based on state political decisions. However, everything is regulated through Government Regulations or Presidential Regulations. This means that everything can be determined according to the wishes of the President, without the involvement of the DPR. In fact, the state's political policy in deploying troops for military operations shows civilians as the highest authority.

"One of the most obvious manifestations of civil supremacy is the country's political decisions. These decisions determine methods, resources, and time limits. The President as the holder of the highest civil decision is then authorized by the DPR, only after that is it implemented," said Diandra.

In addition to demonstrations, the rejection was also channeled through the Constitutional Court. On Friday afternoon, a number of students from the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (FH UI), namely Muhammad Alif Ramadhan, Nicholas Indra Cyrill Kataren, Mohammad Syaddad Sumartadinata, M Nurroby Fatih, Namoradiarta Siahaan, Kelvin Oktariano, R Yuniar A Alpandi filed a lawsuit against the revision of the TNI Law to the Constitutional Court.

The application was registered by Abu Rizal Biladina as attorney. Also acting as legal representatives are Muhammad and Keanu Leandro P Rasyah, all three of whom are also FH UI students.

They sued the process of discussing the revision of the TNI Law, which was deemed to be formally flawed because it violated several principles in the Law on the Formation of Legislation.

They requested that the Constitutional Court declare the revision of the TNI Law unconstitutional. Regarding the provisions of the TNI Law norms that have been amended, deleted and/or declared to have no binding legal force, the Constitutional Court was requested to declare those articles valid again.

According to Rizal, the revision process of the TNI Law does not meet the provisions for the formation of the 1945 NRI Constitution because it violates the principle of openness which is the basis for parties to participate in the creation of a regulation. This makes the validity and/or legitimacy of the TNI Law questionable.

The principle of openness is stated in Article 96 paragraph (1) of Law 13/2022 concerning the Formation of Legislation (P3) which states, "The public has the right to provide input verbally and/or in writing at every stage of the formation of legislation". The same law also clearly states in Article 96 paragraph (4) that the public should be made easier in accessing every manuscript and draft regulation.

In fact, as a derivative of the provision, Article 7 letter b of DPR Regulation Number 1 of 2020 emphasizes the DPR's duties in compiling, discussing, and disseminating the RUU. Therefore, based on the two provisions, the RUU must be disseminated and easily accessed by the public.

However, according to Rizal, the DPR has failed as an institution entrusted with disseminating access to academic manuscript data and bills, especially those related to the revision of the TNI Law. This is evident from the inaccessibility of the official draft of the TNI Bill by the public from the beginning of the discussion until its ratification in the DPR plenary meeting on Thursday (20/3/2025).

The draft of the TNI Bill listed on the official DPR website is a draft that was prepared in May 2024. In fact, the manuscript cannot be used as a reference because the TNI Bill does not adhere to the carry over principle so that the academic manuscript and related bills need to be updated by the DPR.

"It can be concluded that the minimal dissemination of related information is evidence of the absence of the principle of openness in the a quo case," said Rizal.